Pearls Before Swine by Stephan Pastis for August 30, 2024

Sometimes even Woodsy Owl doesn’t give a hoot.

Glass, tin, aluminum recycle. Grass, tree limbs etc compost, everything else landfill

Don’t they just Re-sort most of garbage anyway

Is it worth wasting water to clean things before putting them in the recycle bin?

Our local garbage service also handles recycling. Which is NOT a profit center for them. So every so often (not really all THAT often) they push some other formerly recyclable item off the allowed list. First it was plastic or wax coated paper or cardboard and “plastic film”. Then they started in on types of plastic. We’re now down to only type 3, 4 and 6 plastics. Yep: No more recycling milk jugs or most of the bottles that food-stuffs come in. Coming next, I’m guessing, will be corrugated cardboard. Or maybe just all the rest of the plastics. What they WANT to force us into is back to the 50s “throw it all in the garbage”. Because they make an actual profit on hauling garbage.

Which bin do ded hookers go in?

ALL trash fits into ONE 13 gallon Hefty trash bag, just as ONE 33 gallon bag makes it easy to slide the litter box inside of, when changing out the used litter.

I do believe that I had read that MOST of the “re-cyclables” all wind up going into the “general population” of the local landfill. Which puts the LIE to the publicity stunt, that was, and is, being promoted by the MEDIA, and radical, left-wing environmentalists.

There are no more landfills overhere. Glass is effectively recycled, plastic is recycled (with profit), anything compostable is composted by the city, rest of the trash is incinerated and the heat reused. Turns out incinerating trash is so profitable different municipalities are competing to get their hands on your trash, especially if you are an industrial client.

I have some things right now that fit in the last category there, do not know how to dispose of them!

I live in a small apartment building with six apartments. When I moved here in 2003, we had three trash cans out back, and the city hadn’t started sorting yet, so everything went in the trash cans together. Throwing things away was never a problem, because the trash cans were never all full. Today we have one trash can for paper, two for plastic, one for food, and two for unsorted garbage. They’re always full and you have to keep track and wait for a chance to throw things away. I’ve pretty much given up on sorting and just throw everything in the unsorted trash.

Many Americans will throw stuff in the trash even when the recycle bin is right next to the trash can, and make some excuse that recycling is a big commie liberal plot anyway.

Of course, some will just toss it on the ground because it takes less effort.

Most of it ends up in a landfill anyway.

Humans: too dumb to live, too mean to let anything else live.

Put it all in one dumpster. That’s what they do with it, anyways. They just like to make you feel good. Make you think you’re DOING good.

Most of it just winds up in a landfill anyway (or shipped to the 3rd world where it will be handled with the utmost care and responsibility, as someone above stated). Aluminum is the big exception, as it is quite profitable to recycle.*Recycling’s a nice idea, and can be useful, but the way it is implemented in the US is mostly a tax kickback scam for the trash companies and State / local governments.

Bring back incinerators.

What to do with batteries was a mystery, but we use less of them now

Do as Steve Martin learned. I studied with the Maharishi for many years, and really didn’t learn that much. But one thing that he taught me, I’ll never forget: ‘ALWAYS…’ no, wait— ‘NEVER…’ no, wait, it was ‘ALWAYS carry a litter bag in your car. It doesn’t take up much room, and if it gets full, you can toss it out the window.’

Tim Horton’s coffee and doughnut shops have three bins labelled Paper Products, Waste, Recycling. Nobody ever knew what to put where. The local shop was redecorated this spring; the three bins are now labelled Waste, Waste, Waste.

Don’t know what to do? Why? Can’t read?

With Rat, it should say “I Don’t Care What The #&@# You Do With It”

ha, I don’t blame him. it gets confusing after awhile. :J

Check out the Penn & Teller: Bull$hit episode “Recycling” to get an idea of just how silly it can get.

They look recyclable. It depands on what they’re made of, obviously.

The last one is basically, “Landfill”.

Then it all gets thrown into the same truck.

I like to re-use, re-purpose, and up-cycle as much as possible. Not what I’d call an environmentalist but I do think it’s a shame to just throw stuff out and ruin the environment.

And they all get dumped into the same truck…

At least Rat tried to throw it out instead of being a litter bug.

Went to Panera’s for lunch the other day. I’m with Rat. WHAT??WHERE?? and still holding onto the tray!

I once took four (paper) grocery bags full of junk mail to a paper recycling dumpster. A week later I got an envelope in the mail with several pieces of color/glossy ads (had my address on them) and a letter saying they only accepted newsprint and plain white paper for recycling. So I recycled the letter.

It doesn’t look all that hard to choose.

Rat Speaks the truth!

I’ve told that all of our recycle bins just get taken to the landfill. I don’t know if it’s true or not. One guy who told me that used to drive for the waste company so who knows?? All I can do for my part is to put things in the correct bins.

Sad so many people don’t recycle properly and contaminate recycle stream. At the MRF (Materials Recovery Facility) there is first a big conveyer belt where workers pull off the contamination, typically about half the material, which then goes to landfill. If recycle materials are in a bag, they don’t have time to open it and check, it goes to landfill. Sheet plastic (bags, etc.) are usually NOT recyclable in the mixed waste stream, it tangles in the machines, so is removed as contamination. Electronics are not recyclable in the mixed waste stream, more contamination. Please be responsible about recycling. Containers should be empty, clean, dry. Don’t put trash or other contamination in the recycle bin. Your municipality will have specific guidelines for what they can accept, please review and follow.

Choose any one bin. You will be partially correct.

Yeah, I can relate.

I’m confused about pizza boxes. Some do, some don’t.

When in doubt, use the river and to the ocean it’ll go.

yeah… it’s a shame that they don’t recycle plastic in our area anymore, since almost everything is packaged in plastic… (so we try to do bulk as much as possible)

favorite YT meme: lift the lid on the “trash/recycle” receptacle, both empty into the same bag.

If recycling is to be effective it must be easy and simple. Rules about this here and that there, or requiring cleaning objects before discard mean that fewer and fewer things will actually be recycled or properly recycled. That’s human nature, not some sort of evil opposition to the concept.

remember it’s @ before # except after $

We can’t recycle any plastic that we can “put a thumb thru”, so that’s a lot of plastic just from food. We have bought reusable bags for shopping, but everything comes in plastic nowadays. We recycle our carboard and paper. Peanut butter jars I throw away, too hard to “clean” just to put in cycling bin. I grew up in the 70’s with the crying Indian on tv about our litter and waste. Then I watch all these people who go protest things and all the trash they leave behind, and I think, what’s the use? But, at least I’m trying. Better than I did 20 years ago.

It’s amazing how many of these comments don’t care that we’re using up all of the resources and destroying the planet.

When in doubt, throw it out.

Recycling: The Next Generation

LOLOL — I agree Stephan ♥ Figuring out what items are recyclable depend on where you live; it can be a PITA.

Last bin: We do the best we can.

They have introduced separate trash bins here in Cambodia. Two problems though: people have no clue what to put in which bin, and when the trash is picked up, it is all dumped into a single truck.

Easiest solution? Introduce them to the wood chipper…